Portal:Water/Pending Federal Legislation

In March 2011 Representatives Diana DeGette, Jared Polis and Maurice Hinchey and Senator Bob Casey introduced the Fracking Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (FRAC ACT), which is a re-introduction of the 2009 version of the bill that was tabled, as the fracking process continued at massive levels throughout the U.S. The act is aimed at closing the Halliburton loophole and requiring the oil and gas industry to disclose the chemicals used in drilling projects. It "amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to: (1) repeal the exemption from restrictions on underground injection of fluids near drinking water sources granted to hydraulic fracturing operations under such Act; and (2) require oil and gas companies to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations." The FRAC Act has 9 co-sponsors in the Senate. Predictably, the gas and oil industries pose a strong voice of opposition to the FRAC Act.

On the flip-side, the opposition has formulated its own bill. Big oil and gas shill Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) proposed the Fast Track Shale Act on March 31, 2009. The bill calls for an "open[ing] of Federal Bureau of Land Management and National Forest lands to leasing for exploration, development, and production of oil shale resources, and for other purposes." In short, the bill calls for ignoring all of the environmental conc"erns raised by fracking and pushes to go forward with all proposed methane drilling in the Marcellus Shale region. On the same day this bill was introduced, Bachmann and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) also introduced what they called the "Emergency Energy Cut the Red Tape Now Act of 2009," essentially calling for the suspension of all environmental regulation for the sake of exploiting environmental resources.  The bill bluntly proposes "to terminate or provide for suspension of the application of Federal laws that restrict exploration, development, or production of oil, gas, or oil shale, to facilitate the construction of new crude oil refineries, and for other purposes."

In April 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled the NAT GAS Act, also known as the "New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act," which would offer the fracking industry tax credits to help "drive" consumption. The bigger the vehicle, the more tax credits given. It is the culmination of 2+ years of lobbying by T. Boone Pickens and his Pickens Plan "Army," as he calls it. CMD's Steve Horn unveiled the fact that, by and large, the bill was written by the methane gas industry and its lobbyists. An exposé of the bill can be seen here.